Power plant operation control system and a power plant maintaining and managing method

ABSTRACT

Quick recovery or recovery support of a faulty power generating facility by real time diagnoses such as facility failure diagnosis, supervision for failure symptoms, facility diagnosis by evaluation of performance using databases between the power generating facilities and an operation control system. The operation control system transfers information on operating status and secular characteristic changes of apparatus from power generating facilities or information from operators of selected power generating facilities. The level of a failure of a power generating facility which has a failure is evaluated and repairing information (e.g. recovery procedures, processes, required parts, inventory of the parts, possible failure causes, etc.) is automatically created from repairing information prepared in advance for each evaluation condition. The repairing information is then sent to the operation supporting section of the power generating facility.

This is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No.11/595,881, filed on Nov. 13, 2006 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,496,429, which isa continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/765,858, filed on Jan.29, 2004 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,188,004, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 09/791,703, filed Feb. 26, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No.6,907,320, issued Jun. 14, 2005.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an operation control system and amaintaining and managing method for power generating facilities fit formaintenance/management services of a power network group consisting of aplurality of power supplying facilities.

2. Related Background Art

Technologies on management of power generating facilities have beendisclosed in Japanese Non-examined Patent Publications No. 10-301621(1998), No. 11-3113 (1999), No. 7-152984 (1995), and No. 5-284252(1993).

However, these technologies are all related to processing in the insideof a power generating facility such as instructions of operations,provision of work information, and so on and do not include centralizedcontrol and management of a plurality of power generating facilities.

Real time diagnoses of a plurality of power generating facilities suchas facility failure diagnosis, supervision for failure symptoms,facility diagnosis by evaluation of performance using a database havebeen requested between said power generating facilities and an operationcontrol system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an operation controlsystem and a maintaining and managing method for power generatingfacilities fit for maintenance/management services of a power networkgroup consisting of a plurality of power supplying facilities.

The present invention also is characterized by an operation controlsystem for controlling a plurality of power generating facilities,comprising

means for gradually weighting the levels of failures of said powergenerating facilities according to operating status information of eachof said power generating facilities and

means for outputting preset information corresponding to each weightedfailure level.

The present invention also is characterized by a method of maintainingand managing a plurality of power supplying facilities which supplypower to arbitrary power systems, comprising a step of selecting arepairing period and procedure for a failure which occurred in at leastone of said power supplying facilities from repairing periods andprocedures which are predetermined according to levels of failures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a power generation facility network to which the presentinvention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory illustration of a general supervision/diagnosissystem which is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory illustration of a general supervision/diagnosissystem and a repairing supporting function.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory illustration of an optimum schedulingsupporting function and a system stabilization supporting function

FIG. 5 is an explanatory illustration of a status forecasting function.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a power generation plant managementsystem which shows a positional embodiment of the operating method ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a power supplying system comprising a plurality of powergenerating facilities which include a distributed power supply groupwhich is an embodiment of the present invention. Below will be explainedthe present invention using the application to an arbitrary gas turbinecombined power generating facility as an example.

Referring to FIG. 1, the system comprises a generalsupervision/diagnosis system 1 for managing a power supply system and apiece of control equipment 2 which supplies process quality informationof a selected power generating facility to the diagnosing system 1.

One of the power generating facilities is linked to a power systemthrough a power regulator which regulates the voltage and powerfluctuation of power generated by a generator 10 and a transformer 15which regulates power from the power regulator 14 into a voltage for thepower system 16.

One of said power generating facilities consists of a compressor 3 whichcompresses air, a compressor inlet guide vane 11 which regulates therate of an air flow fed to the compressor 3, a fuel source regulatingvalve 22 which regulates the rate of a fuel source sent from a fuel base23, a diffusion fuel regulating valve 12 and a pre-mixed fuel regulatingvalve 13 which regulate the flow rates of fuel from the fuel sourceregulating valve 22 for diffusion and pre-mixing, a burner 4 which mixesand burns fuel sent from the diffusion fuel regulating valve 12 and thepre-mixed fuel regulating valve 13 and a compressed air from thecompressor 3 and generates high-temperature combustion gas, a turbine 5which recovers power from the combustion gas fed from the burner 4, aheat exchanging boiler 6 which recovers heat from the exhaust gas outputfrom the turbine 5 and generates superheated steam, a steam pipe 7 whichtransfers superheated steam from the heat exchanging boiler 6 to a steamturbine 8, and a rotary shaft 9 which transfers a turning effort of thecompressor 3, the turbine 5, and the steam turbine 8 to the generator10.

Further, this system comprises another power generating facility 17which is linked to the power system 16 in the same power network, anon-utility power generator or IPP facility 18 which is a distributedpower supply, a distributed power supply system 19 which is a localnetwork connecting a power generating facility 18, a circuit breaker 20which makes or breaks the connection between the power system 16 and thedistributed power supply system 19, and a leased or satellitecommunication line 21 which transfers control signals from the generalsupervision/diagnosis system 1 to the fuel base 23, another powergenerating facility 17, a distributed power facility 18, and so on.Here, the leased or satellite communication line 21 used as atelecommunication means in this embodiment can be substituted by anothercommunication means such as Internet.

In the normal operation status of this system, the generalsupervision/diagnosis system 1 usually monitors process quantities sentfrom said control equipment 2 and provides the operation manager withdaily management information required for operation, information aboutremaining service lives of expendables, etc.

When a failure occurs in this system, the general supervision/diagnosissystem 1 provides the operation manager with the level of the failureand information about possible causes of the failure. If the operationmanager requires, this system secures the power quality of said powersystem 16 and provides information on operations to protect the powergenerating facility which has the failure.

Further, if a fatal failure which damages a power generating facilityoccurs, this system provides information required to shorten therepairing period and minimizes the operating time of the powergenerating facility which has the failure.

Below will be explained functions to materialize the above operations.

FIG. 2 shows the content of the general supervision/diagnosis system 1of FIG. 1. The general supervision/diagnosis system 1 is equipped withan error supervision/diagnosis function 24 which receives processsupervision information and operation instruction information from thecontrol equipment 2 and diagnoses the operating status of target powergenerating facilities and failure level judges 25 which determine thelevel of the failure according to information sent from the errorsupervision/diagnosis function 24.

This embodiment transfers operating status information from respectivepower generating facilities to the error supervision/diagnosis function24 by a communication means. For easier judgment of fault levels (orfailure levels), information on operating status and secularcharacteristic changes of apparatus or information from operators ofselected power generating facilities are used as the operating statusinformation from respective power generating facilities. The failurelevel judges receive information from the error supervision/diagnosisfunction 24 and give stepwise weights to failures according to thedegrees of failures in the power generating facilities. For example, thedescription of this embodiment assumes there are three failure levels:Fatal fault, Non-fatal fault 1, and Non-fatal fault 2. These weights aregiven according to time periods and procedures required for repairing orcorrection. A repairing period and a repairing procedure are assigned toeach failure (fault) in advance.

In details, the fault level judge 25 judges whether the failure is fatalor non-fatal. A failure which does not require stopping of a powergenerating system is judged to be non-fatal.

When the fault level judge 25 judges it as a non-fatal failure, thefault level judge 26 judges whether the failure is non-fatal fault 1 ornon-fatal fault 2. A failure which may cause device damages when leftunrepaired is judged to be non-fatal fault 1. A failure which may causeno device damage when left unrepaired is judged to be non-fatal fault 2.Failure information judged to be non-fatal fault 2 is sent to the faultlevel judge 27.

This embodiment comprises a status forecasting function 28 whichforecasts the status of the power generating facility from informationsent from the fault level judges 26 and 27.

When the fault level judge 25 judges that the failure is a fatal faultwhich requires stopping of the power generating facility, the faultlevel judge 25 sends the failure information to the optimum schedulingsupporting function 36. This embodiment is constituted so thatinformation may be transferred from this optimum scheduling supportingfunction 36 to the pumping-up power facility control function 45, thesystem stabilization supporting function 46, the fuel base controlfunction 47, and so on.

The status forecasting function 28 processes information as explainedbelow. The information judged to be non-fatal fault 1 is evaluated bythe fault level evaluating function 29 whether the failure may propagateinto an apparatus damage. The fault level evaluating function 29 sendsthe information to the recoverability evaluator 30.

Similarly, the information judged to be non-fatal fault 2 is sent to therecoverability evaluator 30.

The recoverability evaluator 30 checks whether the status can berecovered by adjustment of control value settings, that is by changingcontrol values. If it is possible, the information is sent to thecontrol value adjusting function 31. The function 31 performs remotetuning of control value settings and the like and adjusts the controlquantities. If it is not possible, information is sent from therecoverability evaluator 30 to the fault propagation evaluating function32.

The fault propagation evaluating function 32 is so constituted todisplay information about occurrence of a failure and forecasted resultof propagation of the failure, to send the information to the repairingsupporting function 33, and to provide the operation manager withinformation about failure causes, repairing procedures, etc.

When a fatal failure which requires stopping of a facility occurs in apower generating facility, this embodiment can immediately inform to thepower generating facility or stop the operation of the power generatingfacility.

The optimum scheduling supporting function 36 processes information asfollows. When the information is judged to be fatal by the fault leveljudge 25, the automatic plant stopping function 34 stops the powergenerating facility which has the failure and automatically stops. Inthis case, the automatic plant stopping function 34 can send processquantities to the repairing supporting function 35 and provide theoperation manager with information about failure causes, repairingprocedures, etc. When a fatal failure which requires stopping of afacility occurs in a power generating facility, this embodiment canimmediately inform to the power generating facility or stop theoperation of the power generating facility.

At almost the same time, information to stop the power generatingfacility is sent from said automatic plant stopping function 34 to theoptimum scheduling supporting function 36.

The optimum scheduling supporting function 36 checks, by the operatingstatus judge (in the identical system) 37, whether the other powergenerating facility in the system which contains the power generatingfacility which has stopped can take over the load of the faulty powergenerating facility. If the load can be taken over by the other powergenerating facility, the operation control function (in the identicalsystem) 38 increases the load of a running power generating facilitywhich does not have a failure and approximately at the same time, sendsa “Change in Total Fuel Amount” signal for the fuel base 23 to said fuelbase control function 47. Thus, if at least one of said power supplyingfacilities (power generating facilities) fails, it is possible to assurethe steady power supply of the whole power system comprising a pluralityof power generating facilities by selecting a repairing period andprocedure for the failure from repairing period periods and procedureswhich are determined according to levels of failures and by controllingthe operation of at least one of power supplying facilities except thefaulty power supplying facility. It is also possible to control thepower supplying facilities in the other power system, the powersupplying facility in the stop status, or the distributed power sourcefacilities.

If the operating status judge (in identical system) 37 judges that theload cannot be taken over by the other power generating facility, theinformation is sent to the operating status judge (in other powergenerating facility) 39 which judges whether the load of the faultypower generating facility can be taken over by a power generatingfacility in the other system. When the load can be taken over by a powergenerating facility in the other system, the operation control function(in other system) 40 increases the load of a running power generatingfacility and at the same time, sends a “Change in Total Fuel Amount”signal for the fuel base 23 to said fuel base control function 47.

If the operating status judge (in other power generating facility) 39judges that the load cannot be taken over by any power generatingfacility in the other system, the information is sent to the operatingstatus judge (in other power generating facility) 41 which judgeswhether a power generating facility in the stop status can be startedimmediately. If the power generating facility in the stop status can bestarted immediately, the information is sent to the operation controlfunction (other power generating facility) 42 and the power generatingfacility in the stop status is started. Approximately at the same time,the “Change in Total Fuel Amount” signal for the fuel base 23 is sent tosaid fuel base control function 47

If the operating status judge (in other power generating facility) 41judges that there is no power generating facility which can be startedimmediately, the information is sent to the operation status judge(decentralized power supply) 43 which judges whether the load can betaken over by a running or stopping distributed power source facility.If the load can be taken over by a distributed power source facility,the information is sent to the operation control function (distributedpower supply) 44. The operation control function 44 increases the loadof the running distributed power source facility or starts a stoppingdistributed power source facility. Approximately at the same time, the“Change in Total Fuel Amount” signal for the fuel base 23 is sent tosaid fuel base control function 47.

Information generated by said operation control functions 38, 40, 42,and 44 are sent to said system stabilization supporting function 46.

If the operation status judge (distributed power supply) 43 judges thatthere is no power generating facility which can be started immediately,the information is sent to the operation control function (pumping-uppower station) 45 and the load is taken by a pumping-up powergeneration.

As explained above, as failures of the power generating facilities arerespectively given stepwise weights according to the operating statusinformation of each power generating facility in the system, we canexactly grasp the level of a failure which occurred in one powergenerating facility and its location. Therefore, operations of aplurality of power generating facilities can be managed collectively,concentrating facilities and increasing the efficiency of managementjobs. Particularly, this embodiment is suitable for collectivelycontrolling power generating facilities which are remotely dispersed.

Further, this embodiment is equipped with means for outputting presetinformation for each weighted failure level. So a proper repairingaction can be taken for a power generating facility which has a failure.Therefore, for quick repairing, it is preferential to send saidrepairing information to the section in charge of the operation of thepower generating facility or the operation supporting section and todispatch service engineers to the facility. Further, as the repairingperiod and procedure fit for the failure can be obtained just byselection, quick and exact maintenance services can be done on the powersupplying facility which has a failure.

Referring FIG. 3, below will be explained the details of the errorsupervision/diagnosis function 24 and said repairing supportingfunctions 33 and 35 in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 shows the functional block diagramof said error supervision/diagnosis function 24 and said repairingsupporting functions 33 and 35.

The error supervision/diagnosis function 24 performs as explained below.The error supervision/diagnosis function 24 receives a run commandsignal 48 from the control equipment 2 and sends to the physical modelsimulator 50 which contains a set of tuning parameters 51 to eliminate adifference between the result of computation and the result of actualoperation.

The physical model simulator 50 calculates normal-operation processquantities which are expected when a facility is operated by said runcommand signal 48 and outputs the result to the subtractor 52.

The process quantity measurement signal 49 sent from the controlequipment 2 is sent to the operation log database 56 which has afunction to correct and update the normal/abnormal operation data byresults of daily operations.

The operation log database 56 sends the information of measurement inthe current operation status to said subtractor 52. The subtractor 52sends the resulting difference information to the switch 53.

The switch 53 sends the difference information to the fault diagnosingfunction 55 while the operation is normal or to the parameter adjustingfunction 54 when the difference between the result of computation andthe result of actual operation exceeds a preset limit even in the normaloperation. If the output of the subtractor 52 exceeds a preset limit,the switch sends the signal to the fault diagnosing function 55. Thefault diagnosing function 55 compares the information from said switch53 by data (normal operation data and abnormal operation data) from theoperation log database 56 and checks whether the operation is normal orabnormal. When assuming there may be a failure, the fault diagnosingfunction 55 outputs a Fault Detected signal 57.

When the switch 53 switches to send a signal from said subtractor 52 tosaid parameter adjusting function 54, the function 54 outputs a signalwhich adjusts said tuning parameters 51 so that the difference betweenthe result of computation by said simulator 50 and the normal operationdata sent from said operation log database may be zero. An offlineidentifying function is provided so that said parameter adjustment maybe carried out while the plant is not in operation for safety. In thisway, this embodiment can perform fault supervision and diagnosisefficiently and accurately.

The repairing supporting functions 33 and 35 perform as explained below.When a plant has a failure, the fault locating function 59 locates afaulty part from the Fault Detected signal 57 and sends the resultinginformation to the fault cause diagnosing function 60 and to thefunction 62 for selecting the shortest repairing procedure.

The fault cause diagnosing function 60 selects the most possible failurecause information from the fault factors database 58 which classifiesthe failure information from the operation log database by locations andcauses for management and outputs cause display information 61.

The function 62 for selecting the shortest repairing procedure selectsand outputs information of parts and procedures required to repair thefailure in a very short time period from the replacement part inventorydatabase 63 having information of the inventory of replacement parts andthe repairing procedure database 64 having repairing procedures thatwere actually carried out. The function 62 for selecting the shortestrepairing procedure outputs an information 65 for displaying a part tobe repaired and a repairing procedure. This enables easy, accurate, andquick repairing of a faulty power generating facility.

Next will be explained the optimum scheduling supporting function 36 andthe system stabilization supporting function 46, referring to FIG. 4

Operation information 66 from the control equipment 2, other facilityoperation information 67 sent from other power generating facilities 17and 18 in FIG. 1 through information transfer means 21, and informationcoming from the statistic model database 68 which simulates theoperation characteristics of the other power generating facilities 17and 18 are fed to the operation schedule calculating function 69. Theoperation schedule calculating function 69 calculates the operationschedules of the target power generating facilities and sends the resultto the optimizing function 71.

The optimizing function 71 includes an evaluating function 72 and anadjusting function 73. The evaluating function 72 checks whether theentered information satisfies conditions by functions that the operationmanager selects by the optimization evaluating function selectingfunction 70 and sends the result (information of judgment) to theadjusting function 73. The adjusting function 73 feeds back a signal forre-scheduling or partial modification so that the result of operation bythe operation schedule calculating function 69 may be optimum. Thesignal which is evaluated to be optimum by the evaluating function 72 isoutput to a display unit 74 which displays the result of arithmeticoperations. In this way, the operation schedule can be optimized.

Next will be explained the status forecasting function 28. The runcommand signal 48 from the control equipment 2 is sent to a controlsystem model 75 which contains an installation logic of the controlequipment 2.

The control system model 75 contains a set of tuning parameters 76 toeliminate a difference between the result of computation and the resultof measurement of actual control operation ends. The control systemmodel 75 calculates a control operation end instruction signal which isexpected when the facility is operated according to the operationinstruction signal 48 and sends the result to the physical model basedynamic characteristics simulator 77.

The physical model base dynamic characteristics simulator 77 calculatesthe process status quantity from the control signal and outputs theresult to the subtractor 78.

The process quantity measurement signal 49 sent from the controlequipment 2 is sent to the subtractor 78 through the operation logdatabase 56. The resulting difference information is sent to theevaluating function 79.

The evaluating function 79 sends a switching signal to the switch 81 anda signal to modify preset control values for control of said controloperation ends to the parameter regulating function 80.

The parameter regulating function 80 outputs a signal to adjust tuningparameters 76 so that the subtractor 78 outputs 0. This signal is fed tothe switch 81 and fed back as a signal 82 for tuning the control settingby a switching signal sent from the evaluating function 79 when afailure occurs. An offline identifying function is provided so that saidparameter adjustment may be carried out while the plant is not inoperation for safety. In this way, this embodiment can forecast thestatus efficiently and accurately.

Below will be explained a method of operating a plant to which thepresent invention is applied, referring to FIG. 6.

Information from a power generation control panel 83 which controls andmonitors the operating status of a power generation plant is coded andtransmitted to the general control center 85 which contains functionsexplained in FIG. 1 to FIG. 5 through a communication line 90 which is acommunication means. The coded information can protect the powergeneration control equipment 83 and the general control center 85 fromviolating interference from the outside.

The communication line 90 has a firewall function 89 and 91 to protectthe system against violating accesses on each end of the line. The codedinformation can protect the power generation control equipment 83 andthe general control center 85 from violating interference from theoutside.

Further, the general control center 85 has an intranet 93 forcommunication which connects a database of apparatus drawing andspecification data 94, a database of performance and life cycleevaluation diagnosis data 95, a database of auxiliary parts data, and adatabase of common data 97 for designing and manufacturing sections sothat the engineers in the general control center 85 may share the data.In other words, the engineers can use apparatus drawing andspecification data 94, performance and life cycle evaluation diagnosisdata 95, auxiliary parts data 96, and common data 97 for designing andmanufacturing sections through the general control center 85. Thisprovides an excellent facility maintenance/management service.

Operators and maintenance engineers 88 of the power generation plant 84,the general control center 85, and the service shop 86 which managesreplacement parts are interconnected directly communication lines 92.This provides an excellent facility maintenance/management service.

For example, when the power generation plant 84 has a failure, the powergeneration control panel 83 or the operator or maintenance engineer 88of the plant 84 sends information to the general control center 85.

The general control center 85 sends plant recovery information obtainedby functions in FIG. 1 to FIG. 5 to said power generation control panel83, to said operators and maintenance engineers 88, and to repairinginstructors 87 who are dispatched upon request from said general controlcenter 85. Said information is also sent to the service shop 86.

In this way, this embodiment can monitor a plurality of remote powergeneration facilities and provide information for operators to controlthe operating status of the facilities if the facility has a possibilityof failure. Further when one of the facilities fails, this embodimentcan immediately support recovery of the facility. The security functionwhen added to the communication means can prevent external interferenceby third parties.

This embodiment is very effective for a power supplying systemcomprising a plurality of power generating facilities linked to a powersystem and distributed power source facilities such as non-utility powergenerator, IPP, and fuel cells.

The present invention can provide an operation control system and amaintaining and managing method for power generating facilities fit formaintenance/management services of a power network group consisting of aplurality of power supplying facilities.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electric power facility operation remotesupporting system for remotely supporting operation of an electric powergenerating facility that is remotely connected by a communication lineto the electric power generating facility, comprising: a judging meansfor judging an abnormality or a sign of abnormality of said electricpower generating facility based on at least one of information on anoperating state of said electric power generating facility, andinformation on a time-varying characteristic of components of saidelectric power generating facility; a database for storing abnormalitycorrective-action data corresponding to data of a plurality ofabnormalities or signs of abnormality in regard to said electric powergenerating facility; a determining means for determining whetherrecovery of the operating state by adjusting operation control settingvalues of said electric power generating facility is possible; and anadjusting means for tuning operating variables for operation control ofsaid electric power generating facility in a case where the recovery ofthe operating state by adjusting an operating amount of operationcontrol setting values is possible when an abnormality or a sign ofabnormality occurs, where the operating amount of the operation controlsetting values is a parameter of plant operation and not a parameter ofsensor abnormality, wherein said determining means and said adjustingmeans serve as a setting means for setting said abnormalitycorrective-action data corresponding to said data of a plurality ofabnormalities or signs of abnormality.
 2. An electric power facilityoperation remote supporting system according to claim 1, furtherincluding: a transmitting means for transmitting information of at leastone of a recommended operating method or an influence resulting when theabnormality or the sign of abnormality is left as is; and a presentingmeans for presenting the information transmitted by said transmittingmeans to a customer.